Carmakers

In the annals of automotive failures, most of the big, splashy mistakes involved individual cars -- Edsel, Pinto or several Cadillac bids to build an entry-level luxury car using a camouflaged Chevy. Now comes a folly of greater magnitude, one not defined by cars but of a company, DaimlerChrysler. The nine-year, $36 billion "merger" of Chrysler and Daimler-Benz was dissolved Tuesday for a mere $7.4 billion. Cerberus Capital Management is taking an 80.1 percent stake in the automaker for...

SEOUL (Reuters) - Japanese and German automakers are benefiting more than their U.S. peers from a free trade deal between Washington and Seoul, according to import figures suggesting U.S. brands are not reaping the rewards they may have expected from the pact. U.S. automakers are battling a perception that they lag German peers in fuel efficiency just when sales figures show South Korean consumers are developing a particular taste for diesel-powered models, the...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Europe's ailing car market has weakened further in recent months and with no signs of recovery, some industry leaders hope governments will relax their opposition to plant closures and job cuts needed to restore profits. At the Geneva car show on Tuesday, executives from top players including Ford , Fiat , Daimler and Renault warned demand in Europe would stay weak for years as governments drive through austerity measures. "The European market is not in a...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - BYD Co Ltd , the Warren Buffett-backed Chinese carmaker, said it has no immediate plans to sell new shares in Hong Kong. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that BYD planned to sell new shares worth as much as 20 percent of its Hong Kong-listed shares, and had submitted an application to China's securities watchdog. "We do not have such a plan now," a BYD spokeswoman said on Friday. "This is pure speculation. " There have...

Automakers including Ford Motor Co., General Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. criticized an Environmental Protection Agency plan to allow gasoline containing up to 15 percent ethanol to be used in cars and trucks in the U.S., saying it may void warranties. Get the full story .

GENEVA (Reuters) - French carmaker Renault has trimmed its growth forecast for the global market this year as the industry becomes increasingly worried about volatile emerging markets just when demand in Europe is starting to pick up. Renault's sales chief Jerome Stoll said at the Geneva auto show on Tuesday the group now expects global vehicle sales to rise by slightly less than the 2 percent previously forecast. "While Europe is showing some signs of...

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Audio equipment maker Harman International Industries Inc reported a 53 percent jump in second-quarter profit, helped by strong sales of its infotainment systems to luxury carmakers such as BMW and Volkswagen. Harman, known for brands such as JBL and Harman Kardon, said net income rose to $72 million, or $1.03 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $47 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 26 percent to...

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - The head of Germany's ADAC car club, Europe's largest, resigned in disgrace on Monday after an external audit found it had rigged the results and order of its award for the country's most popular car. Leading German carmakers Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW immediately said they would hand back the once-coveted annual "Yellow Angel" awards after the audit found irregularities in the counting and ordering. The revelations have battered...

If you're looking for a Bugatti Veyron 16.4, capable of doing zero to 62 mph in 2.46 seconds and topping out at 253 mph, you can find it at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show. Fast as it is, unless it can outrun creditors, this is as close as most of us will get to one. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $1.48 million and, well, just no. Walk away from the Bugatti and around the nearby Rolls-Royce, and you'll head right into General Motors' Chevrolet, GMC Trucks and Buick...

By Laurence Frost and Andreas Cremer and Paul Lienert BERLIN/DETROIT (Reuters) - Ulrich Hackenberg isn't yet a household name but if Volkswagen's $70 billion bet on his big idea pays off, he may join the likes of Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan and Taiichi Ohno in the canon of auto industry pioneers. Since the heyday of Henry Ford and his Model T, the world's automakers have considered the "global car" to be their Holy Grail - the same basic design that can be...

By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - In China, where higher prices mean prestige, luxury U.S. electric carmaker Tesla is taking a bold step to win over clients and cachet by curbing the markup to just half of what some of its rivals can command. Though it risks relegating its brand to a lower tier, Tesla's marketing strategy could prove a model for other imported brands, which have come under fire from China state media and regulators for...

Major American automakers recorded double-digit gains in sales in May, rebounding from the depressed levels of a year earlier, but some experts said the industry's overall recovery may take time. General Motors Co. said Wednesday that its sales rose 32 percent compared with a year earlier, after factoring out the Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn and Saab brands it sold or is discontinuing. Including those brands, sales rose 16.6 percent. GM appears to have regained much of the...

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Audio equipment maker Harman International Industries Inc reported a 53 percent jump in second-quarter profit, helped by strong sales of its infotainment systems to luxury carmakers such as BMW and Volkswagen. Harman, known for brands such as JBL and Harman Kardon, said net income rose to $72 million, or $1.03 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $47 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 26 percent to...

* Doubts over how much cash available for innovation * Industry divided on implementation of new standards * Critics say strategy does not go far enough (Updates with quotes, detail) By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Europe's industry boss said there were limits to what he could do to prop up the region's ailing carmakers, a crucial part of the economy. Carmakers in the region have closed factories and shed thousands of jobs as the...

By Edward Taylor FRANKFURT, Dec 12 (Reuters) - General Motors scaled back its alliance with Peugeot and put a brave face on yet another setback for its efforts to seek growth in Europe through collaboration and partnerships. It was the second time in a year GM had trimmed its expectations of a deal that was agreed in February but said the alliance could still offer up new opportunities. In a joint press release on Thursday, the car makers ...

Carmakers are poised to capture your dollars with some of the best deals in a decade. Chrysler, for instance, unveiled a new sporty economy car, the Neon. Priced from $8,975 to $11,600, the Neon will offer dual air bags and a bit more headroom and legroom than the Honda Civic. Even Mercedes-Benz has gotten hungry: The luxury carmaker recently introduced stylish C-class sedans, starting at $29,900, aimed at younger buyers who have been going with BMW and Lexus. For 1994 cars, the Big...

PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) - Peugeot and Renault are among Western firms sending executives to an automotive conference that opens in Iran on Saturday - firing the starting gun on a more overt race for post-sanctions business. The French carmakers are poised to resume vehicle sales in Iran, using a six-month easing of trade restrictions to reclaim their market position before the mass arrival of competitors behind any permanent detente that could follow. Production by...

The U.S. auto industry edged out import brands in an important benchmark of quality for the first time in nearly a quarter-century of research. Led by improvements at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., the domestic industry's ranking topped that of overseas manufacturers for the first time in the 24 years that J.D. Power & Associates has conducted its Initial Quality Study. The study measures how many problems owners experience during the first 90...